Rolling mill for shaping bars



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Feb. 24, 1970 F. R. KRAusE 3,496,749

ROLLIG MILL FOR SHAPING BARS Filed Nov. 28, 196? 4 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

FRA/VK A. @4055 BY Feb. 24,'1970 F. R. KRAusE 3,496,749

ROLLING MILL FOR SHAPING BARS Filed Nov. 2, 9e?

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I W i Il N l() ln lEFI u 1 M I L* INVENTOR.

FRANK e. ,1f/9,4055 BY Arrow/5K5.

Fe. 24, 1970 F, R. KRAusE 3,496,749

ROLLING MILL FOR SHAPING BARS Filed Nov. 28. 1967 .4 Sheets-Sheet 4 F 1gg INVENTOR.

FRANK A. Mem/5E BY ATTORNEYS.

U.S. Cl. 72-215 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mill housingprovided with a horizontal passage has a carriage normally located instarting position adjacent one end of the passage. A roll is mounted inthe carriage, in which it is movable up and down. At at least one end ofthe housing there is an anvil for supporting a heated bar. This anvil ismoved through the housing and beneath the roll. The carriage movesforward also and as it does so its roll rolls against a cam plate aboveitand thereby shapes the bar. There may be a carriage at the other endof the housing also, and also another anvil. While one anvil is beingunloaded and loaded, the other anvil can be moved through the housingand back again.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a bar shaping mill,which allows bars to be fed into and out of one end of the mill whilebars previously rolled therein are unloaded from the opposite end andnew bars are loaded for entering that end to be rolled, and in which ananvil carries bars through the rolling operation.

The preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a layout of the mill and the apparatus cooperating with it;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the mill;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section of the mill taken on the lineIII-III of FIG. 2, but showing an anvil between the rolls;

FIG. 4 is a reduced fragmentary horizontal section taken on the lineIVIV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an end View of an anvil;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section of an anvil;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical section showing an anvil part waythrough a roll carriage; and

FIG. 8 is a cross section taken on the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 7.

Referring to FIGS l, 2 and 3 of the drawings, a long rolling millhousing 1 is provided with a large passage 2 extending through it fromend to end. The iioor of the passage is substantially flat and the sidesare vertical. Disposed in the ends of the passage are roll carriages 3and 4, each containing a pair of vertically spaced rolls. The lowerrolls 5 are supported by the oor of the passage and their necks arejournaled in the sides of the carriages. The upper rolls 6 are spacedfrom the top of the passage and are movable vertically in the carriages.For this purpose the necks of these rolls may be journaled in verticalslots in the sides of the carriages and urged upwardly by coil springs7, or other means, in the slots. Each upper roll engages a cam plate 9mounted above it in the mill housing and having a lower surface that iscontoured to give the work the desired shape. The cam plates shown havelower surfaces that are inclined downwardly from these outer ends. Theinner end of the plate may be pivotally connected to the housing by apin 10, and its outer end may be adjusted vertically by a wedge 11slidably mounted in a transverse opening 12. through the housing asshown in FIG. 3. The inner end of the wedge engages an inclined surfaceon the top of the plate and can be adjusted in and out by nuts 13 on aStates ate screw 14 projecting from one side of the housing andextending through the upturned outer end of the wedge. This adjustment"will change the inclination of the lower surface of the plate. Ifdesired, the entire plate can be made adjustable vertically by anysuitable means.

The carriages 3 and 4, which are movable lengthwise of the mill housing,are held upright and guided by a pair of laterally spaced tracks 15extending through the housing passage and away from its opposite ends.These tracks are located between the sides of the carriages and aboutmidway between the top and bottom thereof. As shown in FIG. 3, the sidesof the carriages are provided with horizontal slots 16 that receive theadjoining portions of the tracks to connect the carriages to the tracks.The tracks are supported a their ends by suitable posts 17. Inside themill housing the tracks are fastened to it by spacing blocks 18 at eachend of the passage and by spacing bars 19 at the center of the passage.

The two tracks are provided with inwardly opening longitudinal channels22, in which at least two pairs of rollers 23 are supported. Theserollers support the opposite ends of a rectangular anvil 24. For mosteconomical use of this mill, there should be a similar anvil 25 at theopposite end of the housing. Means are provided for moving the anvilsalong the tracks, such means preferably including an endless chain 26that extends around vertical sprockets 27 journaled in pedestal bearings28 beyond the ends of the mill housing. The bottom of each anvil isprovided with an upwardly extending longitudinal slot 29 that receivesthe upper length of the chain; that is, the anvil straddles the chain.The upper length of chain may be supported in the mill housing by a bar30 (FIG. 3), the ends and center of which can be supported by thehousing. The lower length of the chain extends through the housingbeneath its floor. A tension sprocket 31 can be supported by eitherpedestal bearing 28, or there can be one for each pedestal, to take upslack in the chain. In order to drive the chain in opposite directionsso that the anvils can be moved back and forth through the housing, eachsprocket can be operatively connected in any suitable manner with itsown driving motor (not shown). One motor will drive its associatedsprocket in one direction while the other motor will drive its sprocketin the opposite direction. Of course, only one sprocket is driven at atime.

The anvils normally are not connected to the chain, but to connecteither anvil to the chain each end of each anvil is provided with apivoted hook 35 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the outer end of which can beswung down into engagement with the chain by any suitable means, such asby an air cylinder 36 mounted on the anvil. When the hook at the leadingend of either anvil is engaged with the chain, the chain will pull theanvil through the housing, so the anvil will pass through one rollcarriage and at least part way through the other carriage. As it doesso, the anvil engages the lower rolls. When the anvil reaches apredetermined position at the opposite end of the housing, the leadinghook can be disengaged by reversing the air cylinder or by mechanicalmeans. The chain then is reversed and the hook at the other end of theanvil, which then becomes the leading end, is engaged with the chain forthe return trip through the housing.

The reason for moving the anvils through the housing is to taper metalbars carried by them, in order to form automobile leaf springs, forexample. Accordingly, the top of each anvil is provided with one ormore, but preferably at least two longitudinal channels, each of whichwill snugly receive a heated bar 40 that is to be tapered. Midwaybetween the ends of each channel a rigidly mounted pin 41 (FIG. 4)projects into a hole that has 3 been formed at the middle of each bar.The pins correctly position the bars lengthwise in the channels andprevent them from moving bodily therein. The upper rolls are providedwith annular recesses 42 so that the rolls will t in the channels of theanvil.

To facilitate loading of the bars in the channels and especially to makeit easy to remove them after tapering, the inner walls 43 of thechannels are movable toward each other temporarily to widen thechannels. To accomplish this, pairs of wedge bars 44 between `the innerwalls are secured to them at their opposite ends, and a wedge 4S titsbetween each pair of wedge bars with the wide ends of the wedges locatednear the center of the anvil. When the two wedges are forced apart, theywill move the inner walls of the channels against the heated bars in thechannels, but when the wedges are drawn toward each other the innerwalls of the channels will be released. The two wedges can be movedtoward and away from each other by any suitable means, such as by screwsor a fluid pressure cylinder 46 (FIG. 4) between them provided withdouble pistons.

In the operation of this mill as described, a pair of heated centerpunched bars of uniform thickness from end to end are placed in thechannels of either anvil while the inner walls of the channels arereleased. Then the two wedges 45 are moved away from each other to forcechannel walls 43 into proper position relative to the two bars. Assumingthat anvil 24 is the one that is loaded, the hook at its leading orhousing end is lowered into engagement with the chain, which is thenstarted moving if it is not already in motion, by driving the sprocketat the opposite end of the housing to pull the anvil into the housingpassage. At this time, the two roll carriages are in their outermost orstarting positions shown in FIG. 2. The anvil is pulled forward betweenthe rolls of the nearest carriage until positioning pins 41 have passedbetween the rolls. At this time the anvil trips a switch 50 that can bemounted on a. track and that operates solenoid coils 51 mounted in theanvil midway between its ends to project pins 52 from its bottom asshown in FIGS. 7 and 8, whereupon the carriage is moved forward rapidlyuntil stop surfaces on it strike the pins. The stop surfaces may beformed by the upper ends of brackets 53 adjustably mounted on a crossbar 54 secured to the opposite sides of the carriage in front of itslower roll. The carriage may be moved in various ways, such as by apiston rod 55 secured to the carriage andV extending into a fluidpressure cylinder 56 supported by a cross beam 57 in the center of thehousing passage.

After the carriage engages the stop pins 52, the piston rod 55 continuesto pull the carriage ahead with the anvil until the upper rollfrictionally engages both the overlying cam plate and the heated bars onthe anvil, and the lower roll engages the underside of the anvil. Assoon as that happens, the rolls will slow down the fofward advance ofthe carriage to about half the speed of the anvil, and the downwardlymoving upper roll will taper the rear portion of the bars toward theirrear or righthand ends. If desired, pins 52 can be projected before theyreach brackets 53, in which case they will push the carriage along untilits upper roll frictionally engages the cam plate and the bars on theanvil. The pins then must be quickly returned because the carriage willnow move more slowly than the anvil.

In either case, after the bars leave the upper roll, the carriage can bereturned to its starting position by cylinders 56, but the anvilcontinues to the left and passes at least part way through the othercarriage. It travels far enough for its projecting stop pins to approachnear to stop brackets, like brackets 53, in carriage 4. At the propermoment the hook is disconnected from the chain, the chain is stopped,the hook at the opposite end of the anvil is engaged with the chain, andthe chain is reversed to pull the anvil back through the housing.

As the anvil starts back, a lower cylinder 61 connected 4 with carriage4 moves that carriage rapidly forward until its stop brackets engage thestop pins 52 and then the carriage moves with and at the same speed asthe anvil until the upper roll frictionally engages the overlying camplate 8 and the heated bars on the anvil, and the lower roll engages thebottom of the anvil. As the anvil pulls away from the carriage, due tothe rolls now moving forward at about half the speed of the anvil, theupper roll tapers the left-hand end portions of the bars. After the barsleave the rolls, the lower cylinder 61 returns carriage 4 to itsstarting position while the anvil completes its round trip through thehousing and travels out of it to its outermost position shown in FIG. 2.At that point the leading hook is disengaged from the chain and thechain is stopped. The wedges on the anvil then are moved toward eachother to release the inner walls of the anvil channels so that thetapered bars can easily be removed and placed on a delivery table. Whilethis is occurring, the other anvil 25 is being loaded with heated barsand then is pulled by the chain through the mill l housing and backagain to taper both ends of the bars on that anvil. In the meantime, therst anvil is being loaded with new bars for its next trip through themill. As a result, no time is wasted while an anvil is being unloadedand loaded again, so the productivity of the mill is greatly increased.

It is desirable to provide both ends of the pa-ssage Ifloor areasengaged by the lower rolls with slight reliefs to allow those rolls todisengage from the anvils Iat both ends of the carriage travel. In somecases the lower rolls might lbe `dispensed with if the tracks androllers are strong enough to support the anvil during the rollingoperation.

In FIG. 1 there is illustrated a preferred layout for operating thismill most advantageously. The mill housing `1 is located between twosimliar lines, each of which includes a feeder for delivering bars 40 toa furnace 7-1, through which the bars ytravel to one of the anvils. Theheated bars are carried through the mill housing yand back again totaper their ends, and then the tapered bars are unloaded onto a conveyoror delivery table 72. While bars are being removed from one anvil andplaced on the adjoining table and other bars are being removed Ifromfu-rn-ace 71 and loaded on the anvil, the other anvil is carrying barsthrough the mill housing and back out agaln.

It will be realized that the most advantages `are obtained when loadingand unloading are conducted at both ends of `the mill, but there is noreason why yloading and unloading cannot be limited to only one end inoase there is only one furnace line. Also, there may be times when onlyone carriage may be needed.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained theprinciple of my invention and have illustrated and described what I nowconsider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have itunderstood that, within the scope of the Vappended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specilically illustrated anddescribed.

Iclaitn:

1. A rolling mill for shaping bars, comprising a stationary housingprovided with a horizontal passage therethrough, a roll carriage in saidpassage, the carriage normally being sta-tionary adjacent one end of thehou-sing but movable toward the opposite end, a horizontal rollassociated with the carriage and extending transversely thereof, meansconnecting the roll with the carriage for up and down movement therein,an anvil at said one end of the housin-g adapted to support a heatedbar, means lfor moving the anvil forward into and through said passagebeneath said roll, means for supporting the anvil beneath the roll, acam plate mounted in the housing above the roll and having a lowersurface with a predetermined shape, means operative when at least aportion of the anvil has moved forward beneath lthe roll for moving thecarriage forward with the anvil until the roll frictionally engages boththe overlying cam plate and a heated bar on said anvil, whereupon saidIfrictional engagement will cause the roll to advance at about half thespeed of the anvil and shape the bar, means for -returning the carriageto its starting position, and means for then moving the anvil backthrough said passage.

2. A rolling mill according to claim 1, in which said carriage-movingmeans include a uid pressure cylinder and piston connected to saidhousing and carriage.

3. A rolling mill `accor-ding to claim .1, in which said means formoving the carriage forward with -the anvil include -a normallyretracted stop carried by -the anvil, a stop surface on the carriage,means for projecting said stop into the path of said stop surface afterpassing that surface, and means for then moving the carriage rapidlyforward until said stop surface engages said stop and then forward withthe anvil at the same speed,

4. A rolling mill according to claim 1, in which said means for movingthe carriage forward with the lanvil include a stop surface on thecarri-age, a stop projecting from the anvi-l for engaging said stopsurface to move the carriage forward with the anvil, and means forretracting said stop as soon as the ladjacent upper roll frictionallyengages both the overlying cam plate and the central portion of a heatedbar on the anvil.

5. A rolling mill according to claim 1, in which said anvil-moving meansincludes a chain extending through said housing passage, means formoving the -chain lengthwise in either direction, and means forconnecting the anvil to the chain.

6. A rol-ling mill according to claim 5, in which said connecting meansinclude a hook pivotally mounted on each end of the anvil, and means formoving the hook at the leading end of the anvil into `and out ofengagement with the chain.

7. A rolling mill according to claim 1, including guide rails for saidanvil extending through said passage and rigidly secured to the housing,said carriage being supported and guided by said rails also.

8. A rolling mill .according to claim 1, in which said anvil is providedwith a pair of laterally spaced upwardly opening channels extendinglengthwise thereof for receiving `a pair of heated hars, the inner'walls of the channels are movable toward and away lfrom each other,wedge means are disposed between said inner walls for holding them theirmaximum dist-ance apart, and means are provided for retracting saidwedge means.

9. A rolling mill for shaping bars, comprising a stationary housingprovided with a horizontal passage therethrough, a pair oflongitudinally spaced carriages in said passage, the carriages normallybeing stationary in predetermined starting positions but movable towardeach other, a horizontal roll associated with each carriage andextending transversely thereof, means connecting each roll with theassociated carriage for up and down movement therein, an anvil at an endof the housing adapted to support a heated bar, means for moving theanvil forward into and through said passage beneath each of said rolls,in succession, means for supporting the anvil 'beneath the rolls, a camplate mounted in the housing above each roll and having a lower surfacewith a predetermined shape, means operative when at least a portion ofthe anvil has moved forward beneath the roll at said end of the housingfor moving the adjoining carriage forward with the anvil until the rollfrictionally engages both the overlying cam plate and the centralportion of a heated bar on said anvil, whereupon said frictionalengagement will cause the roll to advance at about half the speed of theanvil and shape the trailing end of the bar, means for stopping theanvil after its leading end has passed beneath the roll of the othercarriage, means for then moving the anvil back through said passage,means for moving said other carriage along with the anvil until its rollfrictionally engages both the overlying cam plate and the centralportion of the bar on the anvil, whereupon that roll will shape theunrolled end of the bar, and means for returning each carriage to itsstarting position after its roll has shaped the bar.

10. A rolling mill according to claim 9, in which said anvil-supportingmeans are lower rolls in `said carriages.

11. A rolling mill according to claim 9, in which said anvil-movingmeans include a chain extending through said housing passage, and meansfor moving the chain lengthwise in either direction, said mill includinga second anvil normally disposed at the opposite end of the housing, andmeans for detachably connecting each anvil to the chain independently ofthe other anvil.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 608,908 8/1898 Price et al 72-2141,714,108 2/1928 Schlafly 72-214 2,161,064 6/1939 Krause 72-2142,223,039 ll/ 1940 Krause 72--214 2,432,566 12/ 1947 Findlater 72-2153,199,327 8/1965 Krause 72-210 FOREIGN PATENTS 921,393 3/ 1963 GreatBritain.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner E. M. COMBS, Assistant Examiner

